News round-up

The latest Festival gossip

This year’s if.comedy awards are set to be sprinkled with a little Hollywood gold dust, when actor Christian Slater returns to the Edinburgh Fringe to announce the winner this week. Slater, who brought One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest to the Fringe in 2004, will present the award on Saturday 25 August, at a ceremony in the Jamhouse. More than 350 comedy shows are eligible for the £8000 prize, formerly known as the Perrier award. The if.comedy Awards: a Comedy Cuts Special will be broadcast on ITV 2 on Sunday 26 August.

Spanish conductor Jordi Savall reportedly ran into problems with Flyglobespan staff en route to his performance at the Edinburgh International Festival earlier this month. The low-cost airline threatened to block Savall from a return flight after he objected when cabin staff refused to allow him to fly with his ‘priceless’ 1697 viola da gamba by his side. After a discussion, the instrument was placed in a toilet cubicle for take off. Undeterred, Savall went on to conduct the 400-year-old opera L’Orfeo as part of the EIF programme.

The National Theatre of Scotland has confirmed that Black Watch will open in London next June, nearly two years after it took the Edinburgh Fringe by storm. The show will open in Los Angeles in September, move to New York, then transfer to London as part of the Barbican’s BITE: 08 Festival.

Driven by his belief that food is the common link between all cultures, Kimho Ip, artistic director of the Intercultural Music and Arts Project, has put together an event combining cooking, film and live music which will culminate in a performance at street food market The Eating Place just off Princes Street. To accompany a film celebrating the preparation and cooking of dim sum (Chinese for ‘touch the heart’) Kimho is collaborating on a live soundtrack with hot experimental musicians Found and Dutch saxophonist Filipe Davidse while a drummer will create rhythms using Chinese cooking implements. Like all good multi-sensory experiences, there’s a tasting too – of dim sum made using produce gathered from the market’s stallholders. The event takes place on Thursday 30 August at The Eating Place, Castle Street, from 4pm. See www.feast.surfacepressure.net

One of Big Brother’s more controversial housemates, Charley Uchea, is joining the Edinburgh TV Festival session Mind Your Language on Saturday 25 August. Famed for her outbursts on the Channel 4 reality show, Uchea’s 59 days in the Big Brother house were marred by endless rows with fellow contestants and there have been reports of anger management therapy since her eviction. Broadcaster Mark Lawson chairs the panel which also features Ashley Pharoah (co-creator of Life on Mars), Narinder Minhas (managing director, Wildcard) and comedian Reginald D Hunter.